The Platt Music Corporation, founded by

Benjamin Platt Benjamin Platt (December 17, 1883 – April 18, 1960) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Platt Music Corporation, which he started in 1905. Biography Early life Benjamin Platt was born in Khodorkiv, a ''sh ...

in 1905, was a national retailer specializing in selling consumer electronics goods through leased operations in 135 department stores including

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

The May Department Stores Company The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ch ...

and

Emporium-Capwell The Emporium, from 1980 to 1995 Emporium-Capwell, was a mid-line department store chain headquartered in San Francisco, California, which operated for 100 years—from 1896 to 1996. The flagship location on San Francisco's Market Street was a des ...

. Platt Music Corporation, where

Herman Platt Herman Platt (1909–2005) was an American business executive and philanthropist. Biography Early life Hermann Platt was born in 1909. His father, Benjamin Platt, was the founder of the Platt Music Corporation and co-founder of the American Jew ...

, (1909–2005), son of

served as president and CEO from 1956 until 1984, was a private company that leased space in department stores such as The May Department Stores Company, otherwise known as Robinsons-May, and sold consumer electronic products. Platt Music Corporation was also the first company to carry

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

in the United States. In 1984, Michael Glazer became chairman and chairman executive of Platt Music. Tom Bagan, president and COO of Chicago retail giant

became president and COO of The Platt Music Corporation. The company started trading publicly on the Stock Exchange in 1984. National operations ended in 1988. Members of the Platt Family have lived in Los Angeles since the 19th century. TV presenter

Josh Flagg Joshua Daniel Flagg (born August 20, 1985) is an American real estate agent, television personality, author and contributor to several real estate publications and news outlets. He is an original cast member on the show ''Million Dollar Listing ...

is the great-grandson of its founder. The Platt Music Company Building, constructed in 1927 and designed by architects Walker + Eisen, was located at 834 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.

References

External links

Platt Music Corporation stock certificate at Scripophily.net
Consumer electronics retailers in the United States Retail companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Defunct retail companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles American companies established in 1905 Retail companies established in 1905 Retail companies disestablished in 1988 1905 establishments in California 1988 disestablishments in California {{US-retail-company-stub